I'd Give It All Up Just For You
by XrhiaX
Summary: "...Who is this guy? Why did you leave him?" "I just did, Mark! I can't explain it!" "Oh, so you're just gonna leave me too if I piss you off?" When Lexie's husband comes to Seattle, her life is torn apart. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: Tell me what you think.**

Lexie sat on the sofa, tiredly watching some television show she didn't really care about.

"_You _are _the father!"_

She grumbled and grabbed the remote, turning it off.

Stupid phone call. Stupid Alex. Stupid Mark.

Lexie groaned and shoveled in another spoonful of rocky road ice cream. Why did her life suck so badly?

It was really all Mark's fault. He'd planted the seeds of hope in her mind and forced her to uproot them. And now Alex had called and said Izzie was there, and they were considering canceling the divorce thing. She'd been dumped. On the phone.

And Mark was on her mind. She felt sick, of everything. She heard the key in the door, and flinched in surprise as she heard Meredith's voice.

"Hey. You still up?"

Lexie opened her eyes. "Uh … yeah," she glanced at the clock.

"It's nearly three AM,"

"I couldn't sleep. Could you, after today?"

Meredith shook her head and sat on the couch next to Lexie.

"Derek got shot,"

"So did Alex," Lexie handed Meredith the Ice cream pot and spoon. "And he dumped me,"

Meredith shoveled in the ice cream and yawned. "Yeah, I saw Izzie at Presbyterian,"

"Yeah," Lexie grumbled.

"Oh, come on, did you really think you and Alex were serious?"

"Yeah, well … no, I guess not. Even though I nearly got my brains blown out going to get blood for the bastard,"

"Mm," Meredith said through a mouthful.

"Mm,"

There was a knock on the door, and the doorbell rang.

"Lexie," Meredith looked at her sister.

Lexie nodded tiredly, getting up.

When she opened the door, she saw Mark standing there, with a cheesy bouquet of red roses, and a heart shaped box of chocolate. She laughed and looked down.

"You're kidding me, right?" she looked up and smiled.

"I saw Stevens in Karev's room." Mark nodded. "Now, I look ridiculous with flowers and chocolates, so are you going to let me in, or leave me looking like a dork on your doorstep?"

"Come in," Lexie nodded and opened the door wide enough for Mark to walk in with the crap he was carrying.

Meredith was standing in the hallway, and ready to laugh her ass off when she saw Mark.

"Mer!" Lexie shouted.

"Oh, come on, Lexie, _someone _has to laugh at him," Meredith shook her head, walking into the living room again.

Lexie turned back to Mark. "Uh … sorry about that,"

"Chocolate?" Mark asked, putting the flowers down on the side table.

Lexie nodded and took the massive box from him. "Want some?"

Mark nodded. "I always wonder what's in these girl's chocolates,"

"Right. Like you've ever given a girl a heart box of chocolates before,"

"Movies. I watch a lot of movies since you left."

Lexie laughed and opened the box. "Oh, turn on the light, will you?"

Mark found the switch and turned on the overhead light, which immediately blew out, as light bulbs do.

"Pick one," Lexie leaned over the box, eyeing the chocolates in the dark.

Mark sighed and took one from the box. "I didn't come here to eat chocolate with you, you know that, right?"

Lexie nodded, her face dropping. "I'm going to get really fat. I just ate half a tub of ice cream, and now I have all these chocolates,"

"You could never be fat," Mark smiled at her.

Lexie turned her head to look at him. "Look, Mark, this … If I do anything today, tomorrow I'm going to call it a mistake made because of the shooting today. I'm going to tell myself that my judgment was clouded."

Mark nodded. "I know, but you're alone … and I'm alone, and we both made huge mistakes on the rebound, so why not?"

Lexie groaned. "Don't push me into this, Mark."

Mark sighed. "I brought you flowers,"

Lexie laughed. "You did,"

She looked up at him and felt hot tears in her eyes.

There was silent meeting of the eyes for a few moments, before Lexie broke down into silent sobs. She leant forwards and wrapped her arms silently under Mark's hugging him tightly. Though he had no idea why she was crying, he hugged her back, stroking her hair.

"Hey, what's up?" he whispered.

Lexie shook her head against his chest. She didn't want to talk. She just needed to be held, a feeling Mark knew all too well.

"Come on," He ran his hand down her back supportively. "What's going on?"

Lexie shook her head again. "For a moment today…" she began, taking a breath. "For a moment, I thought I was dead- I died today, and all I wanted was a hug, and now I have one, and I'm never going to let go," she started laughing at herself.

Mark smiled at her laugh, before she went dead silent, and let more tears run down her cheeks and against his shirt.

"It was my fault," she whispered quietly.

Mark sighed. "It was nobody's fault,"

Lexie tried to shake her head, her eyes shut tightly. "No … I … It was my fault, I know it. I shouldn't have unplugged her. I had a bad feeling, I shouldn't have-,"

"It was nobody's fault, Lex," Mark interrupted her softly.

Lexie sighed, blinking in the darkness. "Okay."

"Okay," Mark breathed. "Lexie." He asked carefully, looking down.

Lexie loosened her grip on him and looked up. She wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand.

"Mark, did you mean what you said the other day?" she asked clearly.

Mark nodded. "Every word of it,"

Lexie swallowed. "Okay then," she nodded slowly.

Mark leaned down and pressed his lips gently to hers. He lifted his head and continued to hug her tightly.

"I love you more than I've ever loved anyone, Lexie,"

"I can't marry you though." Lexie said quietly. Sheepishly.

Mark made a face, confused.

"Well, it's soon anyway,"

"No, it's not because of that. I'd marry you right now if I could, but I can't."

"Why not?"

Lexie shook her head. "I was going to tell you eventually, Mark …"

"Lexie, come on, are you pulling my leg or something?"

"Mark, I'm married,"

There was a long silence. Then Mark let go of her and stepped away.

"What do you mean," Mark demanded.

Lexie sighed and approached the stairs, where she sat down miserably, guiltily.

"I did a lot of stupid things in Med School. I … the exam pressure was just …"

"Lexie," he said loudly.

"I got married. I filed the divorce papers, he wouldn't sign them, I keep sending them and he just won't sign." Lexie said quickly.

"Why are you telling me this now? Why not when we … why not when we moved in together, or …"

"I got a phone call. He called me, and he's coming to Seattle to look for me and I don't want to see him and … I want you, Mark, you know that, right? I haven't thought about him since I last filed the papers, that was … I don't know, a _year_ ago,"

"What's that supposed to mean to me? I don't care whether or not you think about him, you lied to me, to Karev to _everyone_! Who is this guy? Why did you leave him?"

"I just did, Mark! I can't explain it!"

"Oh, so you're just gonna leave me if I piss you off?" Mark shouted angrily.

"No! Of Course not!" Lexie screamed at him from the stairs.

Meredith ran into the hallway. "What's going on?" she yelled.

"Nothing!" the two of them shouted.

Meredith went back into the living room.

Mark glared at Lexie. "You sort your crap out with this guy before _even talking _to me again,"

He turned on his head and shoved the chocolates and flowers off the side table onto the floor, before leaving and slamming the door behind him.

She begged her legs to stand and run after him, but they wouldn't budge. So instead, she curled up in a ball against the step, and buried her head in her knees.

**Reviews make my day.**


	2. You Are My Mistake

Lexie sat down next to Alex in the cafeteria.

"How was the trip from Presbyterian?" she asked bluntly.

Alex lifted his head from his food and glanced at her emotionlessly.

"Oh, right, I get it. Izzie's back, I'm just the girl you screwed on the rebound," Lexie nodded to herself, glancing around.

"Yeah, like you care. You're still drooling over Sloan,"

"And you never stopped caring for Izzie, so I guess we're even," Lexie snapped.

"Whatever." Alex muttered.

"I did chemically _evil _things to my hair to be like her, Alex. You said her name during sex, in your sleep, even while you were bleeding in the conference room, in front of _Mark Sloan, _while I was trying to prove to him that I can _in fact _be happy without him," Lexie gritted her teeth and stared at him angrily.

"Hey dude, I didn't ask you to go blonde,"

"No, and you didn't _Ask _me to be a porn star in bed but I did. I did everything I thought Izzie would and I'm _pissed _at you, because now I can't find _me_." Lexie smacked her fist into the table. "All I see in the mirror is someone trying to be Izzie Stevens and that is _your _fault," Lexie spat, before shooting out of her seat.

Alex didn't look up. He continued eating like nothing.

Lexie wanted to hit him. She wanted to scream and shout and throw some stuff at him. Make him hurt. But she couldn't. Deep down she knew it wasn't him she was mad at.

She was mad at herself. She'd let herself do stupid, stupid things on the rebound.

She was mad at Mark Sloan. He'd changed from a slut to a boyfriend, from a boyfriend to a father, from a father to a tease. He'd now planted seedlings of hope. The hope that she could have someone to lean on while she dealt with what she knew was coming. She'd uprooted them accidentally in telling him about her husband.

Lexie sat down next to Meredith and Cristina.

"Have you met the new guy?" Meredith leaned towards Lexie.

"New guy?" Lexie raised an eyebrow.

Cristina cleared her throat and wolf whistled across the cafeteria.

Lexie turned in her seat and stared.

"Oh my god," Lexie turned back. "Did he see me?" Lexie looked desperately at Meredith.

Meredith averted her gaze from something that surely needed its own 'Mc' Nickname.

"I don't think so," Meredith peeked again.

"Meredith! You're married!" Lexie whacked her.

"You too! To that!" Meredith laughed.

"Shut up!" Lexie hit her again.

"Oh, crap, He's coming," Meredith glanced back down at her food.

Lexie breathed out. "Okay, well, I'm blonde now. Maybe he won't recognize me,"

"Hey," she heard his voice behind her.

"Hi," Meredith looked up.

Cristina waved wordlessly.

"So … your friend say anything?" he asked Meredith.

"No, I was just checking you out," Cristina answered. "You probably get that a lot, right?"

"Sometimes," he put the heels of his hands on the table, leaning forward. He was only an inch from touching her.

"Yeah, well, I'm involved, but there's no harm in looking, is there?"

Meredith stared at Cristina. "You got back with Owen? I can't believe you!"

"Oh come on," Cristina smirked.

Lexie rested her elbow on the table, using her hand to lean her head on.

"Well how about you?" He leaned towards Meredith.

"I'm married," Meredith told him with an uninterested glance.

"And you?" he smirked at Lexie.

Lexie turned her head and stared at him.

He paused. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"Oh, for god's sake," Lexie shot out of her seat. "It's me, I went blonde,"

His jaw went slack. "It err … looks um … it looks nice," he pulled a face.

She started walking, with him following closely.

"Why are you here, Daniel?" she asked, continuing towards the elevators.

"Please, Lexie, we have to talk about this – about us,"

"There _is_ no _us _anymore,"

"Please, Lexie. Just one more chance is all I'm asking," Daniel pleaded.

"Look," Lexie stopped and turned. "I don't get angry easily. I don't hold grudges, I don't easily back out of commitments. But _you_ are not a commitment, _you_ are a goddamn _mistake_," Lexie hissed. "You are my mistake and I wish I'd never met you,"

Daniel looked at her with pleading green eyes. He had dusty blonde hair and a tan complexion. He had been raised on Miami sunshine and six-foot blondes.

"Come on, Honey, I'm begging here,"

Lexie closed her eyes in a long blink. She couldn't look at him. She knew she'd give in, and she knew what'd happened the last time she'd given in to Daniel.

When she opened them, he was still there, but that wasn't what she first saw. Mark was getting out of the elevator behind Daniel, and had stopped, his head turned, looking at her.

Her heart ached.

All she wanted to do was see neither of them there. She turned on her heel to leave the both of them. The first thing she saw was Arizona and Callie walking up the hallway towards her, except more towards the coffee cart. Then she saw the ceiling, and felt her own shoelace under her foot.

"Oh!" Callie jumped, stepping over.

Lexie saw Callie and Arizona, and then Daniel leaning over her.

"Ouch," she sputtered, winded.

Daniel offered his hand. But then again, so did Callie.

Lexie took Callie's hand and pulled herself to her feet, rubbing her head with her fingers. She should've then tied her shoelace, but instead she smiled thankfully at Callie and left the area. Daniel stared after her, hurt and baffled. With less pride, she'd have admitted she was hurt at not seeing Mark there to even care that she'd fallen.

But then again that was him. He wasn't there when she needed him.

Lexie stayed silent until four hours into the surgery she'd been sucked into.

Meredith had talked to Derek, who'd had Lexie stuck on the same surgery as Daniel and Mark, all of which were pissed, except Daniel, who was oblivious.

Lexie cleared her throat. By now it had to be growing cobwebs.

"Lexie," Daniel whispered.

"We're in surgery." Lexie reminded him.

"Have anything you'd like to share, Dr. Grey?" Mark asked.

"No, Dr. Sloan," she answered sheepishly.

"How 'bout you, Dr. Matthews?" he looked up momentarily from the patient. "We've got a good half hour left, might as well,"

Daniel glanced at Lexie.

"Start like this – how do you know each other?"

"Dr. Sloan, this isn't something to be discussed over a patient's exposed nerves," Lexie glanced at him.

"I disagree, It seems to be the only way anyone can get you to talk. Would you agree, Dr. Sloan?"

"Shut up, Daniel," Lexie muttered.

Mark glanced back to the patient, and continued whilst talking. "So you're the guy she ditched."

"Mark-," Lexie was interrupted.

"Yeah, kind of." Daniel answered.

"Daniel, shut the hell up." Lexie gritted her teeth. How she wanted to murder him. "I didn't _ditch _you, you kicked me out and I didn't come crawling back, like you expected,"

"Oh, come on, you caught a plane to Seattle. That's _definitely _not ditching, is it?" Daniel retorted sarcastically.

"I left for my mom's funeral," Lexie answered. "And my dad started drinking or whatever and they needed someone to live in the area for him to go to rehab."

"I'd have come with you,"

"I'm not talking about this," Lexie sighed under her mask. "Not at work anyway,"

"So why did you kick her out?" Mark asked suddenly.

"What?" Daniel looked at Mark.

"I can answer that one," Lexie smirked.

"Really,"

"He kicked me out because …" Lexie laughed. "He kicked me out because _he _had sex with my sister when she was _thirteen_."

"Wait, what?" Mark glared.

Daniel gaped. She was going to spawn all their shit out on the OR table for it to spread in gossip.

"Oh, yeah, we were dating in high school, and he screwed my thirteen year old baby sister, and then he married me, and we had the big expensive wedding and then the bastard turned around and told me how he nailed her in the back of _my_ car after taking her to a bar, buying her three bottles of vodka and driving her three miles out of town so no-one could hear," Lexie glared at Daniel, animosity flaring in her tone. "And I came home drunk, because back then I drank when I was miserable instead of eating, and I told him I was going to get a divorce …" Lexie paused and sighed.

There was no point in blurting the rest.

"And he kicked me out,"

Daniel let out a sigh.

"Dude, seriously?" Mark scoffed.

"…yeah," Daniel breathed.

"And now we're going to get a divorce and he's going to leave Seattle," Lexie glanced at him.

"Lexie," Daniel said, barely above a whisper.

Lexie didn't answer.

"Wait, you have another sister?" Mark laughed.

That made Lexie smile. "Yeah," she nodded.

Mark removed his hands from the patient. "Uh, Matthews, close up," he told Daniel.

Daniel nodded.

Lexie dried her gloves and the nurse pulled them off for her. She followed Mark to the scrub room.

She put her hands under the tap, silent. Mark was already washing his hands, his mask untied.

She dried her hands again and untied and removed her mask. She put her hands on the edge of the scrub sink, looking down.

Mark sighed. "So,"

Lexie shook her head. "I can deal." She nodded and turned to look at him. "I know last night I told you all my crap because I thought I needed to be with someone to help me deal with this, but you know what, I can deal with this." She breathed.

"I can deal with him. I can deal with this," she tried to convince herself. "I don't need _you _to help me deal, especially when you've got your own insecurities and … and your Hot-Cold thing and …" she could hear her voice cracking with the lump in her throat. "It's fine. I'm fine," Lexie swallowed, turning back to the sink.

"I'm sorry," Mark told her. "I'm sorry, Lexie,"

Lexie wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, before wiping the sweat from her forehead. She wasn't about to cry. She couldn't.

"I have my own crap now, and I've been avoiding it and …" she paused and smiled bitterly at Mark. "I'm glad that … I'm glad you can have relationships now. And I'm glad you understand what love is. I'm glad I helped you figure all that out, but … I can't."

Mark breathed. He knew he'd made a mistake last night.

"Daniel's back and all I can think about is how he made me feel … useless and _not good enough, _so I can't deal with you and your rejection, because as much as I _hate_ it, I'm in love with you and your rejection is too much for me,"

Mark was speechless. He wanted to defend himself, but his guilt took over. She was hurt and he'd contributed to it.

"So … I'm going to leave, and no one is going to follow me." Lexie nodded slowly.

"Lexie," Mark began.

Lexie looked.

"I'm an ass." Mark breathed.

Lexie nodded slowly. "Yeah… yeah, I can't deny that," she laughed.

Mark smiled sadly.

And with that she left.

Lexie was sitting on the barstool, leaning against the bar. She was drunk.

"Meredith," she laughed, gaining her sisters attention.

"yeah?" Meredith asked. Meredith wasn't drunk. She was just having silly fun with Cristina, who was.

"I … I want to tell you about me," Lexie giggled. "My ex husband was … an unfaithful … abusive … lying … egotistical … drunk … pedophile!" she burst in laughter.

Meredith stared. "What now?"

"I broke my jaw- no, _he _broke my jaw … and my arm … and I had two surgeries because of internal bleeding,"

Meredith didn't answer, but she looked towards the door.

Lexie turned her head to look at the door. Mark was standing there, mouth agape. It was clear what was in his hand. Lexie's medical files.

She immediately sobered up and sat upright.

"Mark …" she swallowed.


	3. Crashing Back To Me

He'd come from the hospital, trying to figure out what caused all the fractures and trauma in her medical files. He didn't need to ask. He'd heard everything.

Mark turned to walk away.

Lexie tried to get up, but her head spun. "Oh, come on, would you want people to know that?" she shouted.

"I thought you'd come clean on everything," Mark answered.

"That man _scares the crap out of me_, Mark! You think I want to spread my crap like butter in the middle of surgery while he's holding a _scalpel_?"

Mark sighed. "I thought you were done _bullshitting,_ Lexie,"

"Why the hell do I have to tell _you _all my shit, then? You're not my boyfriend, you- you don't-," Lexie paused and swallowed something she felt coming from her stomach. "You don't get to … I have to go home, I'm going to be sick," she shut her eyes tightly.

"Come on, I'll drive you home." Meredith sighed.

Lexie shook her head. "No, I'm … I've got this,"

Mark had left already, somehow.

Meredith turned around to grab her jacket, turned back and Lexie was gone.

oOoOo

Meredith was sitting in the window, wondering whether she was waiting for Lexie, or for two cops to announce they'd found her body in a car wreck. She saw an unfamiliar car pulling into the driveway, and recognized the blonde haired driver.

She ran out, barefoot and in her bed robe. "What the hell did you do to her?" Meredith began angrily.

He was leaning into the back seat, where Lexie was lying across the seats.

"Nothing!" Daniel insisted. "I saw her car up against a tree, she was unconscious,"

"And you magically knew where I lived," Meredith muttered. "Lex?" she asked, shoving Daniel out of the way, leaning into the car.

Lexie mumbled something.

"Come on, Lex," Meredith put her hand out for Lexie.

"My head hurts," Lexie groaned, taking Meredith's hand and pulling herself into a sitting position, her feet on the concrete driveway.

"Okay," Meredith helped her sister to her feet. Lexie leaned against Meredith..

"I swear to god, Matthews, If you lay a finger on her, I'll kill you - and I'll make sure you die a slow, painful death," Meredith hissed, before helping Lexie, step by step, to the house.

Daniel exhaled before getting back into his car.

As soon as they got into the house, Lexie collapsed onto the couch. "I can't go upstairs," she mumbled.

Meredith sighed and sat down near the couch, on the floor.

"What happened?"

"I … I got in my car, and I didn't go anywhere, and I fell asleep, and then Daniel picked me up and I fell asleep again,"

"In other words, you're completely hammered."

Lexie nodded with a mumble.

"He didn't do anything?"

Lexie shook her head. "Surprisingly, no,"

"Okay," Meredith breathed. "I'll get you an aspirin,"

oOoOo

Lexie reported to Cristina as soon as she got to work, which was incidentally later than usual.

"Sorry," Lexie yawned, approached.

Cristina answered with a mumble. "We ran out of aspirin last night," Cristina added with a yawn of her own. "Men suck,"

"Why does yours?" Lexie laughed.

"Owen slept with Teddy yesterday, in an On-Call room."

"So that's why you were knocking back the tequila last night,"

"And you?"

"It's complicated," Lexie chuckled. "Mark thinks I'm a liar, and Alex has gone back to Izzie," Lexie blew a raspberry. "So where am I stuck today?"

Cristina thought for a moment. "Sloan told me not to station you on Plastics/ENT, _at all_, so that just leaves Trauma,"

"Oh, great. Would you like me to make Hunt's day hell?"

"Please," Cristina smirked.

When Lexie got to the ER, she groaned in exasperation when she saw Daniel and Owen wheeling a patient past her.

"Grey, we need an extra set of hands, we're headed up to the OR," Owen told her, passing.

"Great," she breathed, following them.

The elevator doors shut and she was trapped.

Daniel cleared his throat. "Er, what did your sister mean when she asked what I did?" he said quietly.

Lexie swallowed. "I was drunk last night, I might've said something …" she trailed off.

Daniel went red, and a little pale.

Owen glanced at Lexie, and then at Daniel, before looking back to the patient.

"Besides, why the hell do I care if you get in trouble?" Lexie gritted her teeth.

"Because I'm your-,"

"You say it one more time and I'll disembowel you," Lexie hissed.

The elevator doors opened and they wheeled the patient directly to the OR, where he was immediately prepped by scrub nurses, while Owen, Lexie and Daniel went to scrub in. The scrub room of OR 3, the one they were using, had for some reason been de-sterilized, and so they'd used the one in OR 2, which was empty, awaiting a surgery.

"Dr. Grey, Dr. Matthews, I can't have you arguing like schoolchildren in the OR, if you have something to sort out, do it now," Owen cleared his throat, before shaking the water from his hands.

Owen disappeared back to the OR.

Lexie stuck her hands silently under the tap.

Daniel dried his hands and leaned against the scrub sink. "So how many people know about why you left?" he exhaled.

"So far, Meredith, my sister, and Mark- uh, Dr. Sloan,"

"What do you mean _'So far'_?" Daniel scoffed, getting uptight.

Lexie sighed. "So far means _I don't know whether or not I'm going to report you_ and we all know that's all you're scared of. A domestic abuse sentence … going to jail, getting butt-raped by a big black guy named Bubba …" Lexie laughed at her own joke, turning to face him. "Hey, you're not bad-looking,"

Daniel laughed a moment. "Oh, right, I get it, you think It's funny," he nodded, laughing, before his arms uncrossed and his hand lashed out at her.

She felt the back of his hand hot against her face, the soft knuckles of his pampered hands whipping into her cheek. She cried out in pain and turned quickly in the force of the blow, grasping hold of the scrub sink's edge. She felt her own hot tears running against the stinging red mark on her cheek.

Lexie leant over the sink and averted his gaze as it all came crashing back to her.

"You know what, Lexie, _you _are the mistake. I regret coming down here, I regret _you_, I regret thinking I needed a _bitch _like you,"

Lexie gently touched her fingertips to her face. "_Please. Please don't be bleeding." _She thought desperately. She looked at her fingers. They were dry. There was no blood on them. Thank god.

Daniel turned on his heel and left to the OR.

Leaning over the sink, Lexie allowed herself the few tears she usually didn't. She would never be rid of him. Scars, bruises, they would heal and fade. Memories wouldn't, and until she was rid of him, he would always have something over her. Something that kept him at the top of the pecking order.

She wished she could hurt him. Cause him the pain he'd caused her. The broken jaw, the lacerations, burns. The painful recoveries from surgery.

She shook her head, wiped her face and dried her hands, before running back to the OR.

oOoOo

When Lexie got home, she sat on the couch next to Meredith, and immediately wrapped her arms around her sister as best she could.

Meredith looked at her in confusion.

"You okay?" she asked, sipping her coffee, having noticed the growing bruise on Lexie's cheek.

Lexie nodded with a mumble. She sighed. "No,"

"Want to talk about it?"

"What's to talk about? Daniel found out that you know about … whatever … the bastard slapped me in the scrub room." Lexie buried her face in her sister's sweater. "I feel like I've got hives on my face,"

Meredith stayed silent, clenching her teeth.

"Maybe I should sue him for domestic abuse,"

"No, Lexie, don't. You just want him to be gone,"

Lexie yawned and looked up.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But I'd still like to see him get a fist in the face,"

There was a knock on the door. "That's probably Derek."

"I thought he had a key," Lexie yawned.

"No, because we're building the house in the woods." Meredith got up and went to the door. "We won't be here for much longer,"

It was Derek, and also Mark. They had a big six-pack of Budweiser.

"Lexie, they're stealing the TV," she turned and walked back into the living room.

"You guys don't have to leave, it's only baseball," Derek told Meredith.

Lexie immediately darted towards the stairs.

"Oh, the patient was discharged," Mark told her suddenly.

Lexie turned quickly. "Which one?" Crap. They were staring.

Derek and Mark were staring at her like she had a fish plastered to her forehead, and she remembered why she'd been trying to avoid them.

"The … the one from yesterday. The uh … exposed nerve burn patient," Mark finished.

"…right," Lexie breathed.

"Little Grey, what happened to your face?" Derek blurted.

Meredith whacked him. "Really subtle, McDreamy,"

Lexie swallowed and turned to go back upstairs.

Mark looked at Meredith. "Don't tell me,"

Meredith squirmed uncomfortably. "He drove her home last night, she was fine, but I blurted something and he found out that I knew about his … _thing _and she said he slapped her. She doesn't want to talk about it,"

Derek glanced between them. "You're going to have to fill me in,"

Mark took a breath. "Meredith, explain," he told her, before heading upstairs.

He tapped on the attic door.

"If it's Mark, go away." She called, her head buried in her pillow. "I don't need your input on my ex-husband's behavior,"

Mark sighed and walked in. "Hey," he breathed, sitting on the bed.

"I told you to go away," she removed her face from the bed.

"Yeah … well, whether or not we're sleeping together, I do care if someone hurts you," Mark leaned forward onto his elbows.

She turned over to lie on her back. "Yeah, right," she muttered sarcastically. "And it's fine when you do it,"

Mark took a deep breath and looked at her. "You feel victimized and you're defensive and you're taking it out on me."

Lexie nodded, her eyes shut. "Mm-Hmm," she lay on her side, her knees hugged up to her chest.

After a long silence, Mark put a hand on hers. "I'm trying here, Lex. I really am trying not to go manwhore on you,"

Lexie laughed under her breath, it was something to take her mind of ... other things. "_That's_ an ego boost."

Mark laughed too. "I'm being serious here," he breathed in a wispy smirk.

Lexie sat up and cleared her throat nervously. It was like all the sound in the room had disappeared.

"Mark …" she began, barely above a whisper.

Mark exhaled, shaking his head. "Sorry,"

"No … I just- It's this Daniel thing. My head is in _knots_, and you and me … it's a big decision, because we … because-," Lexie paused, took a deep breath and rested her head on her shoulder. "Because …"

"Because you don't want to get hurt again," Mark finished for her.

Lexie sighed. "…Yeah," she shook her head and lifted her head from his shoulder. "You're missing the game,"

"This is more important," Mark smiled sadly.

She turned her head to look at him. "And what is _this_?"

There was a silence that filled the room, as the lights went out, and they could hear Meredith and Derek shouting in frustration at the television.

"Power's out," Lexie noted with a sharp breath, into the darkness. It was a little familiar, the lights off, which scared her a bit. She'd never liked the dark all that much. "I'll go-,"

She stopped short as she felt Mark's lips pressed to hers. She gently pulled back, trying to figure out what he was doing. She paused, bringing her hand to his cheek, deepening the kiss. She wrapped the other arms around his back, as she felt him pushing her to the bed. She felt her back pressed to the bed, her head on the pillow. For a split second they parted for breath, before he kissed her again. She could feel the cold air on her chest.

She immediately pushed him away. "Wait, stop," she told him sharply.

"Lex," Mark reached out for her.

Lexie smacked his hand away, standing up and running her fingers through her hair. "It's not you," she whispered, leaning against the wall. "Damn it," she snapped sharply, shoving something off the roof beam she was using as a shelf. "Damn it!" she shouted angrily, as her stuff clattered against the floor.

Concernedly, Mark got up. "You okay?"

Lexie shook her head, sliding down the wall into a curled position on the floor. "It's not fair," she announced, a lump in her throat, her voice cracking.

"What's going on?"

Lexie grabbed both hands to the sides of her head. It truly wasn't fair. Why now, Of all times to be haunted by the past, it had to be now.

"_Fuck you!" Daniel grabbed her by the hair, and shoved her into the bedroom. He slammed the door shut and locked it._

"_Let me out!" Lexie screamed, grabbing the door handle on the other side of the door. "Daniel, Let me out!" she sobbed._

"_You cheating little whore!" he slammed his fist into the door, drunk and angry._

"_What are you talking about?" Lexie smacked her hands against her side of the door. "Daniel, please, I don't know what you're talking about!"_

"_You lying little bitch! This bullshit is over, Lexie! I'm leaving, and I'm leaving you in there! Have fun starving to death, you fucking bitch!" he shouted, storming down the stairs. "I'll come back when you're good and dead," she barely heard him muttering as he left._

"_No, please!" Lexie's voice grated hysterically. "Daniel! Please, I'll do anything!" she pressed her hands and face against the door, tears staining the wood. "Daniel!" she cried. "Please don't leave me here!"_

_Everything went dark as he unplugged the fuse box. She screamed again, against the door, smacking it with both hands. She fell to her knees, shouting, sobbing._

_The bedroom door clicked, and she woke up, her face dry and tear-stained. The door opened, pushing her back._

"_Daniel," she breathed tiredly, falling onto her back._

_She felt him grab her by the jacket with both hands. He lifted her up and shoved her back onto the bed. Her eyes fluttered open suddenly. He was locking the door again. He dropped the key into his pocket, and approached her on the bed._

"_D- D- Daniel," she sputtered helplessly._

_He touched his fingers gently to her face, before grabbing her with one hand, by the jaw._

"_If you ever so much as _**look** _at another man, I'll kill you … slowly." He hissed in her ear, before reaching across with his free hand and pulling on the collar of her blouse. "I'll make you suffer for it,"_

_She felt the cold air hitting her chest as the buttons snapped off. She realized what he was doing, and reached up suddenly with both hands to push him away. "Wait, stop," she coughed. He shoved her down again, and positioned himself on top of her._

"_Daniel," she called out again. "Stop."_

_He slapped his hand over her mouth and tugged the rest of the blouse open. She cried out from under his hand. He moved both hands to unbuckle her belt, and she lashed out with both hands, shouting. She felt his hand in her face again. Blood trickling down from her nose, she felt him grabbing both her wrists with one hand, tugging her jeans away with the other._

_She kicked, scrambling, desperately trying to get free, shouting, screaming at him._

"_Stop it! Stop it! Leave me alone!" she cried out, as he pushed her back down. "Dan- Daniel, get off me!"_

Lexie shook her head, hands on either side of it, Mark's arm around her. Tears were running down her cheeks, as her fingers shook, trying to wipe her face.

"Little Grey, what's going on – what are you talking about?"

She'd been babbling little bits of her flashback along the way, through her sobbing, ranting episode of memories. She couldn't forget. Not her. With all the drugs in the world, she'd never forget what he'd done to her. Stupid photo memory.

Her memory was so vivid. She was in shock. It was almost as if it had just happened.

"I can't. Mark, I can't," she gasped between sobs. "Make it stop," she grasped each side of her head tighter. She could feel her fingernails digging into her, so deep into her skin she knew she would bleed soon. She was rocking herself as best she could.

Mark was scared. He'd no clue what was happening.

"Lexie. Lex, snap out of it!" he put his hands on her forearms to bring her to reality.

She pierced the air with a scream and shoved him away, so roughly, in fact, that he fell back onto the floor.

"Get away! Get off me! Leave me alone! Stop it!" she screamed, climbing the floor to get away. From everything.

She sat on the floor, her hands falling to her sides. Her face was tear-stained, her throat rough and dry. She stared, hyperventilating, at Mark.

She inhaled sharply, getting up from her position on the floor.

She remembered what she'd done. Every second. Why had that happened? Why had she freaked out all of a sudden?

Mark sat upright, dusting himself off, his eyes wide, looking at her, his face red.

"Little Grey … what did that _son of a bitch _do to you?" he shook his head, climbing to his feet.

Lexie looked at him confusedly, before wiping her face. "I … I don't know why I did that," she breathed.

"I asked you a question,"

Lexie looked him in the eye, tears falling from hers. She didn't need to answer. She looked back down and wiped her face. "Y- You need to go,"

"Lex-,"

"I'm not asking you, Mark, all you ever want to do is talk and right now, I don't want to talk, so please, just go watch the game with Derek." Lexie rubbed the wet on the back of her hand on her trousers.

Mark continued to stare at her, taking in the impact of what she's told him without using words.

"Mark! Go!" Lexie shouted.

He didn't know how to deal with that. No way. Maybe leaving was the best thing to do. At least until he knew how to deal with this.

oOoOo

**AN/ review please!**


	4. Spark Starts A Fire

Lexie pulled her hood tightly over her head, scurrying towards the hospital, avoiding the rain. God knew what would happen to her hair if it got wet.

"Lexie!" she heard a voice behind her.

She continued to walk away, getting under the awning of the hospital. She didn't toss back her hood, though, still unaware what people would think of her going back to brunette.

"Lexie, slow the fuck down!" Daniel shouted angrily.

Lexie froze up for a moment, checking her watch. 5AM, more or less.

She took another step and continued walking. She didn't get very far before she felt Daniel grab her by the elbow and spin her around.

She stared at him, uncertain of his need for her attention.

"I'm sorry I freaked out yesterday, hon. I shouldn't have ... well, freaked out." He smiled slightly, before enveloping her in a hug that made her face go pale, yet red at the same time.

"Whoa," she shoved him away. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she eyed him carefully.

"Lex, what's going on?"

Lexie shook her head slowly, careful not to move the hood too much, continuing to watch him. His hands were holding her by the elbows. She tried to pull away, and his grip tightened enough that it hurt her a little. Like a pinch.

"Lex, are you okay?" he looked at her, as her pale face looked at him helplessly. He was in control.

"This isn't funny, Daniel," she said, barely above a whisper.

"I'm sorry?" he smirked, laughing under his breath.

"Let go of me!" she hissed loudly.

His grip tightened even more, his fingernails digging into the tender spot inside her elbow.

She looked around and swallowed dryly. The brick wall prevented those inside the hospital from seeing them, and having been late, all those arriving for that shift were already inside.

"What? What's wrong?" he laughed, in a tone that made Lexie sick to her stomach.

"It's not funny!" she screamed at him, thrusting her knee up and smashing her foot down onto his.

The smirk on his face fell, and she swore she saw his eyes flash red in the second it took her to pull free of his grip and dash inside the hospital. Daniel glared after her for a split second, before puffing out a breath to compose himself, and walking coolly into the hospital. He vaguely noticed Dr. Sloan watching him from the nurse's station, as he walked into the men's locker room.

* * *

Lexie pulled a face, glancing in the mirror inside her locker. She'd trimmed about three inches off the ends, to stop it from looking like cancery chemo hair. She'd dyed it back to her natural color, and it wouldn't show when her own color outgrew the dye. She hoped.

"I like it," she heard Jackson behind her.

"Huh?" she turned.

He smiled softly. "the blonde wasn't you anyway," he reached into his locker for a bottle of water. "You sure it won't come up under the brown?"

Lexie made another face. "I'm hoping it won't. I used a different dye this time and I don't know if it's stronger or weaker." She yawned. "What do you know about hair dyeing anyway?"

"I used to have long hair in college. It helps with picking up chicks in bars," he smirked.

Lexie chuckled a little under her breath. "I can imagine. Not that you really need help,"

He tilted his head, a little confused. "Uh … thanks, I think," he laughed softly.

"You're welcome," she smiled brightly, shutting her locker.

She immediately went to do what she had to do, check on patients, pre-ops and post-ops. And then, when there was nothing left to do until her 10:30AM surgery with Dr. Altman (and Yang, obviously).

* * *

She dropped a few charts on the nurse's station, before heading off to the cafeteria to get a coffee. Dropping down into the seat opposite Jackson with the coffee in her hand, she managed to glance around for Daniel, or Mark.

She sighed at the realization that she was avoiding him too.

"Men are going to be the death of me," Lexie let the words escape her mouth before taking a sip of her coffee.

Jackson laughed. "Really? Not a psycho with a gun?"

"Not funny." Lexie glared. "I don't like psychos,"

"I disagree, I think they're great fun," he smiled sarcastically.

Lexie coughed a single chuckle, before shaking her head. "Have you _met_ my ex-husband?" she whispered, just loud enough for him to hear. "_Not _fun,"

"Oh, yeah, uh … Dr. Matthews, right?"

"Gossip travels faster than the plague around here," Lexie noted.

Jackson's pager went off, not two seconds before the 'code blue' alert overcame the cafeteria. He kicked the seat out from under the table and dashed for the elevator.

Lexie blinked, watching to see if he caught it.

"Your hair looks nice," she heard an ominous voice behind her.

She looked.

"Blonde looked stupid on you," Daniel added, sitting down very seriously.

Lexie swallowed. At least they were in public. She opened her mouth to speak, but honestly, what was there to say that she hadn't already said?

"So, I have a better proposal than 'I'll sign the divorce papers and _fuck off_'..." He smirked deviously. "You have two options – one, you can come back to Boston with me, or two, we can get a house, or an _apartment_ here."

Lexie made a face. "Wait, what?" she blinked.

"… and when we settle back into the house, _or apartment_, we'll try for a baby."

Lexie realized he was serious. "No way. You're joking, right, Daniel? Because … I mean, is this supposed to me your way of asking me to give you another chance?" she stared, shocked.

"I'm not going to beg, I'm not going to plead, I'm sure as hell not going to be in any kind of debt to _you_," he said it like she was some kind of trash-whore he'd dragged in off the street. "So, you're my wife, and that's what wives do. They have kids."

"Daniel." She stood up quickly, holding her empty coffee cup at her side. "I filed the papers again. Sign them, and please, just go. Leave Seattle, and don't come back. Let's agree that Seattle is _mine._ You can have Boston. I don't want it."

"You don't seem to have heard me. You only have two choices. And if you don't pick one by the end of today, I'll pick. I'll wait for you at the OR at Seven."

How the hell did he know about her surgery schedule? She shook her head, watching him leave, his face serious, like a serial killer.

She blinked again. The thought of having sex with him was scary enough, but childbirth, even to the child of a mentally stable person, was terrifying. And as far as she could tell, it was included in both options.

* * *

Lexie ran up towards the elevator, trying to catch up with Meredith. Only Meredith really knew everything about Daniel, and that made her almost the only person she could talk to about it.

"Meredith," she panted, squeezing into the elevator, between the closing doors.

Meredith laughed at her. There was no one else in the elevator, and so it was perfect for Lexie to explain.

"Daniel-," she stopped short when she noticed someone else getting into the elevator at the last moment.

Oh brilliant. Mark.

The door shut as he settled in front of them.

She let a breath escape.

"Yeah?" Meredith asked.

Lexie debated with herself whether she'd find a better moment to rant to Meredith. Usually Mark couldn't understand when she was ranting, so she went ahead. Turned out, she'd lost her ranting ability, especially because she had to breathe between sentences.

"I was having a coffee, on my own, because Jackson's patient coded, right? So, Daniel came over, sat down, said something about my hair looking stupid when I was blonde-,"

"Yeah, I was going to say about it," Meredith noted. She'd be a bad sister if she didn't notice that dramatic a change.

"Yeah, so then he said I had two choices; one, I moved back to _Boston _with him, and two, _WE _got an apartment here."

Meredith blinked. "Wait, he—wait, I'm confused."

"Me too! I know, but, as if that wasn't freaky enough, then he says something about 'after we settle in, we'll try for a baby'!" Lexie grasped onto Meredith's arms. "If I don't come up with a choice by Seven, he's going to pick one. I don't know what to tell him!"

Meredith coughed hysterically. "Okay, wait … what happens at seven, if you just tell him to screw himself?"

Lexie came back to the realization that Mark had turned around to look at them at the word 'baby'.

"OH, right," she blinked. "Wow, right … umm …"

"Mark – not your business," Meredith looked at him.

Mark glanced at Lexie. "Your sister's psycho ex-but-not-really-ex husband wants _what_?" he squinted in disbelief.

"I KNOW!" Lexie shouted suddenly.

"Okay, Lexie, just don't go and see him at Seven," Meredith concluded.

"I _can't_. He's going to be _waiting _for me at _his _seven o' clock surgery," Lexie motioned to Mark, eyeing Meredith. "You hear that? He's _stalking _me,"

"Oh, yeah, big surprise. That's _so _unexpected," Meredith added. "So what do you do?"

"Exactly!" Lexie breathed.

Mark glanced between them again.

"I mean … even the idea of having kids with _him_, scared the crap out of me, and he's mentally _sane_," Lexie gestured to Mark again.

"When were you thinking about that?" Mark pulled a face.

"Women just do," Meredith added.

"No, I took a pregnancy test when we were living together, I read it wrong, but then I read the instruction thingy," Lexie shook her head. "The point is, the man wants me to have a baby, not to mention the whole reason I left,"

"Sue him for assault and battery,"

"Ugh, I really didn't want to have to go to court,"

"Yeah, well, you already have a photo for proof," Mark scowled as he gestured to the fading bruise on Lexie's face.

The two women ignored him.

"I don't know. I'm just going to ignore him, see if it works," Lexie shrugged as the doors began to open. She was in a hurry, and Meredith didn't have time for this either.

* * *

Lexie could see him from a mile away, coming down the hall, on the way to the scrub room. She dreaded having to speak to him.

He was leaning against the scrub room door. "So?" he asked.

Lexie swallowed and looked down. "No,"

"What?" he snapped.

"I said no. I'm not going back to Boston, and I'm not moving in with you." She told him, barely above a whisper, closing her eyes tightly in expectation.

His face turned bright red, and she expected his arm to swing into her again, except he leaned forwards instead and whispered into her ear with hot breath;

"I'll see you later." Sending shivers down her spine. Not the romantic kind, though. The horror-movie kind.

He walked past her, knocking her with his shoulder, and with a pale face she pushed the door open and walked into the scrub room to see Mark looking up from the sink.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked carefully, in a low voice.

She smiled slightly and nodded unenthusiastically.

"Little Grey-,"

"I'm trying not to drag you into my problems, Mark, so please stop trying to be a Saint to me," she breathed monotonously, approaching the sink. "You're making me feel guilty in pushing you away,"

"Well then stop trying to push me away,"

Lexie looked up like he was the stupidest man she'd ever met. "You just don't get it. I'm trying not to _feel_. I'm trying not to feel the _anger_, and … and the _hate _that I know I should be feeling, because it … makes me want to slit my wrists." She turned her head to look at him. "It really does, and … and _you_ make me feel when I'm trying not to feel. So, I'm trying to make you hate me, so that I don't have to feel when I'm around you. So please, can you just _stop _giving a shit whether Daniel is or isn't a psycho?" she pleaded softly, looking back down.

"Look, I tried last night, to not talk about it. And then when I _cared _when you were rambling about him _raping _you, you pushed me away." He hissed the word. "Any psychiatrist in this hospital will tell you to talk about it, and I know I suck with emotions, but … but, like I said, I'm in love with you, and I can't _just not care _when you start rocking yourself like a psych patient,"

Lexie nodded slightly, drying off her hands. She walked around Mark into the OR.

Like she'd said; She was trying not to feel.

* * *

Lexie leaned against the bar, pouring her sixth glass of some kind of wine down her throat. She gripped her sister's arm as a precaution, lest her legs decide to fail.

"R- Remember last time I was drunk, Meredith?" she sputtered a laugh at Meredith. "And … and I blurted all that … that stuff? Remember that?" she said, taking another sip.

"Yeah, I remember that," Meredith answered half-heartedly.

"Have a _real _drink, Meredith," Lexie pointed at Meredith's lemonade.

Meredith turned her head to say something, but turned back to staring at Joe.

"_Jeez_, Mer, what's up? You _hate _soda," Lexie noted.

Meredith shook her head. "I'm not going to discuss something like this with you while you're drunk," she sighed.

"Okidokie," Lexie smirked. "Ooh," she noticed Mark laughing with Callie. Both of them were quite obviously drunk. "I'll be right back," she tapped Meredith on the back, taking an unsteady step towards the table nearest to the dartboard. "Hi," she laughed, sliding into the seat opposite them.

"Hey," Mark laughed, tapping his fingers against his glass.

"Hey-o," Callie leaned back in her seat, glancing up at the ceiling and laughing at it.

"Meredith's no fun, be- because she's not drunk, so I'm going to sit here, because you … are drunk," she took another gulping sip of her drink.

"That's an understatement," Callie looked back down at her drink. "We're totally hammered."

"Mmmm hmm … me too, that's why … that's why I'm here," Lexie nodded, dropping her head onto the table, laughing.

Mark wheezed a hysteric laugh at her position on the table, her hand around her glass.

"I'm going to regret this … a _lot_ tomorrow morning," Lexie giggled, lifting her head.

Callie and Mark continued to laugh like toddlers.

"Look at us – this is childish," Callie noted, before taking a sip of her own drink.

"Not for me," Lexie coughed a scattered laugh. "This is what 26-year-olds do, they drink … they do stupid stuff like … I don't know, jell-o shots … drivebys." She muttered, taking the last sip.

"Did you … did you say _drivebys_?" Mark leaned forward, still laughing.

"I don't know! I don't know how old I am – I'm getting a divorce, but I don't even have my own house," Lexie sighed, putting the empty glass down.

"So? I got a divorce," Callie tapped her glass on the table.

"That's different." Mark and Lexie said together.

"How?" Callie sat upright.

"Vegas wedding," Mark yawned. "It wasn't really a wedding, or a marriage."

"Yes it was!" Callie's mouth formed an 'O' shape.

"I have to go now," Lexie laughed slightly. "I'm going … I'm too drunk to be in public," she pushed the chair back, using the table.

Callie looked at Mark. "We should go too," she yawned.

"None of us should be driving," Mark chuckled drunkenly.

"I'll call a cab," Callie reached for her cell phone on the table.

"You going to get home okay?" Mark glanced at Lexie, who was preoccupiedly dancing to the bar music.

"Huh?" she turned. "Ummmmmmm …." She thought long and hard.

Mark laughed at her. "You can sleep on the couch if you want,"

"I c- can't sleep on the couch. Especially since _I _paid for the bed,"

"You _so _did not," Mark argued.

"I did too,"

"Did not,"

"Shut up," Lexie scoffed a laugh. "And fine, I'll take the couch, only because Meredith is gone," she glanced at where Meredith had been sitting.

"Cab's on its way," Callie climbed out of her seat.

* * *

"Where'd she go?" Lexie asked, looking around. Callie must've already gone into her apartment.

Mark shrugged, leaning against his own apartment door.

"Well? Open the door!" Lexie snapped.

Mark laughed again, reaching into his pocket for the keys.

He unlocked the door, stumbled inside and dove onto the sofa. Lexie walked in and shut the door behind them.

"Get off there," Lexie grumbled, dragging her feet towards the sofa.

Mark mumbled something into the pillows (that _she _had bought).

"Mark! Off the couch!" she laughed, grabbing onto his arm and trying to tug him off the couch.

He turned over onto his back and smirked at her.

"What?" she crossed her arms, pouting.

In less than a second, her shot up off the couch, wrapped his arms around her and sucked her down to the carpet.

She screamed and laughed at the same time, looking up at the ceiling, Mark beside her, also laughing. The grin on his face still plastered there, Mark hoisted himself up on his elbows. He glanced down at Lexie, laughing at the look on his face.

"You look like that phrase 'don't know what hit me," she giggled, before clearing her throat and taking a breath.

Mark let another single chuckle escape before smirking deviously again.

He pushed himself up on his hands and twisted onto his knees into a position on all-fours.

The last of the alcohol sinking into his blood, an impulse of the old Mark, before there had been Lexie, made him lean over and press his lips on hers.

Lexie, also drunk, immediately reached one hand up onto his cheek, the other around his shoulders, deepening the kiss.

There were no words after that.

Just the tearing off of clothes, and the giggly journey to the bedroom.


	5. Drowning On Dry Land

Lexie rolled over on her side and gave the familiar wall a glance. She shut her eyes tiredly, but then snapped them open widely.

She quickly turned on her back and sat bolt upright, eyeing Mark's sleeping body. She lunged her arms at him and shook him roughly.

"Mark! Wake up!" she whispered, sending her own hangover into fits.

Mark blinked open his eyes and looked her up and down. "Hi." He offered confusedly, setting off both headaches.

Lexie whacked him and he sat up, squeezing his eyes shut. "Aspirin?" she mouthed.

Mark nodded and motioned to the bedroom door.

Lexie swung her legs off the bed and made her way to the kitchen with as little noise as possible. She rolled open two or three drawers before she found the box. She took out two pills and turned on the tap, ran it cold, popped the pills into her mouth and stuck her head under the faucet taking multiple gulps. She grabbed a glass, filled it with water, took out two pills and returned silently to the bedroom. After handing them to him, she went to the bathroom for a hot shower.

When she got out of the shower, and got redressed, and walked into the kitchen, Mark was flipping pancakes on the cooker.

"So what now?" Lexie grumbled, leaning against the counter.

Mark shrugged. "It's up to you. No pressure." He smiled at her, finally understanding the best way to make her feel comfortable.

Lexie took a deep breath and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll get my stuff from Meredith's," she smiled back, leaning against the counter again.

Her flipped the pancake onto a plate and slid it towards Lexie. "Breakfast?"

She took a fork from the counter and took a bite. "So … are we just going back to where we were, you know, before Sloane?"

"Guess so," he responded. "But what about Matthews?"

"Ugh," Lexie groaned. "I don't know."

"Okay, never mind,"

Lexie yawned and took another bite of her pancake. "I'm not all that hungry, to be honest," she stood upright. "I'll meet you at the hospital?"

Mark nodded and gave a smile as she gave him another kiss on the cheek, grabbing her bag and leaving for the hospital.

* * *

"Hey, where were you last night?" Lexie jogged up to Meredith.

"What? Me? You disappeared! I went to the bathroom!" Meredith replied quickly.

"Huh. Well anyway, I slept with Mark," Lexie smiled.

"Cool."

"I'm just going to swing by and pick up my stuff after my shift, okay?"

"Okay. Hey, have you seen Cristina yet today?" Meredith asked.

"Umm …"

"How about Derek?"

"I think I saw him in the cafeteria, why?"

"I'll tell you later." Meredith smiled and disappeared.

Lexie let a small laugh escape and turned to find a storage room. Callie had asked her to fetch some supplies. After finding one and looking for what she'd been asked for, she turned to the handle, which was turned already, the door ajar.

Daniel stepped closer to her and shut the door behind him.

"Daniel," Lexie breathed, turning her head to see if there was another way out.

There wasn't.

She felt the color drain from her face as he spoke.

"You're not easy to pin down, you know that, Lexie?" the words filled the otherwise silent space between them.

He reached out with an effortless smile, touching his knuckles to her jaw.

Lexie took a step back from his touch. "I need to get these to Dr. Torres," she murmured under her breath.

Daniel reached behind him with a key in his hand, turning it in the door. With the click of the lock, she felt a sliver of hope drain away from her reserve. She gripped her fingers into the supplies in her hands.

"Daniel," she swallowed pleadingly.

Daniel's hand lunged forward, knocking the supplies from her hands, which fell to her sides.

She looked down momentarily, reaching her hands into her pockets, feeling around for her cell phone to page someone. Anyone.

"Take your hands out of your pockets," he snapped.

Lexie pulled them out quickly, bunching her fists together, so tight that her knuckles went white.

Daniel stepped towards her and snaked his arm around her. "You disappeared last night. I was hoping you'd wait for me," he whispered with hot breath.

"Why would I do that?" Lexie answered in a low voice, hoping for the door to be tried, for someone to break it down.

"Right, of course." He hissed, removing his arm from her, pushing her back, enough for her to need to put a shaky foot behind her to stop from falling. "I followed you from Joe's. I slept in my car and I saw you with Sloan." There was a fiery streak of anger in his voice.

Lexie's hands loosened, her fingers trembling. She was in for it. Wordlessly, she awaited the thud of skin on skin.

He grabbed his hands onto her shoulder, pushing her back with a roar. She let a groan escape her mouth as she hit her head on a shelf, which came crashing down on top of them.

With a reverberating shout, Daniel lifted the shelf up and shoved it back the other way, knocking over another shelf. Lexie screamed in the chaos, grabbing for something to climb to her feet.

She heard someone knocking on the closet door at the same time Daniel advanced towards her. Lexie screamed again as he grabbed her by the ankle and tugged her across the floor. He ignored the pounding on the door as he slammed his foot down onto her stomach, bringing her to groan and do an accidental sit-up.

Her ponytail had come out by now, his fingers entangled in her dark hair, tugging hard as he shoved his fist into her body. She felt blood dripping down her face as he threw her back, and she knocked her head against the floor. Daniel grabbed the nearest shelf and pulled a plastic bag of cotton balls off it. He fell to his hands and knees above her and pressed the bag over her silent, unconscious face.

"See you later," he hissed with grin.

* * *

Lexie woke up suddenly, sweating in the on-call room bed, to the sound of her pager beeping. She remembered going for a nap after talking to Meredith. She let a relieved sigh escape her.

The next day, after her 48 hour shift, Lexie was approaching her car tiredly, ready to go to Meredith's, pick up her stuff and go home to watch a bad movie with Mark, like 'Superman 4' or something.

"Hey!" Mark called with a smile from behind her.

Lexie turned. "Hey! I haven't seen you since lunch yesterday," she answered, happy to see him.

"Sorry," he leant down and kissed her on the forehead. "Want to get a drink?"

"Uh, no, I have to get my stuff from Meredith's,"

"Need help?" Mark offered, the smile still on his face, taking a step with her towards the car.

"Sure!" Lexie smiled back, stopping walking.

"What?" Mark stopped, still smiling curiously.

She turned her whole body, to look at him, still bright and shiny.

"I love you," she admitted with a blush. It was weird to say. She hadn't ever expected him to say it, and that brought about the question whether they'd have lasted if Sloane hadn't existed.

Mark's smile grew even wider. "I love you too," he leant down again and pressed his lips to hers.

Lexie took his hand in hers, turning back to her car, Mark following.

She heard a whipping noise, a strange groaning noise and then her hand being sucked down slightly. She turned on her heel to see Mark at her feet.

"Mark!" she spluttered.

"You stupid fucking _slut_," Daniel turned to her, the briefcase in his hand falling to the ground. He'd hit Mark over the head with it.

"Oh my god," Lexie fell to her knees, pressing her fingers to Mark's neck to check for a pulse. There was a pulse. She took a thankful breath.

Daniel grabbed her by the wrist and tugged her to her feet. "Get in the goddamn car," he growled at her, pulling open the back door of the dark blue car.

Lexie reached again for Mark as Daniel shoved her into the car. Daniel left the back door of the car open, grabbing Mark by the arms and dragging him into the seat with Lexie.

He slammed the door, picked up his briefcase and got into the driver's seat. Lexie ran her fingers through Mark's hair, his head on her lap, her face pale, her lip trembling, her eyes shut tightly.

The journey was silent, until they came to a darker part of the road, and Daniel turned in his seat to watch her. At the darkest possible moment, Daniel grabbed his briefcase again and hit Lexie over the head too. She fell back against her seat, unconscious.

* * *

When she came to, everything was very damp and cold. Her bag was gone and she sat up to see trees all around her, so dense that trees were all she could see. Her head hurt, and she was rushed with the memory of the events prior. She struggled to her feet, looking around desperately.

"Mark!" she called out in a burst of terror. "Mark!" she shouted again.

She thought she heard something faint, reminiscent of a reply. She hoped she'd heard it correctly, because she found herself running towards the sound, desperate for a familiar face.

"Mark!" she called out, running.

She felt one foot hit the other, and she tumbled head first, rolling forwards. She found herself on her back, looking up through the leaves at the cloudy night sky.

"Lexie?" she heard a faint voice.

"Mark!" she cried out, climbing to her feet. "Mark?"

She listened for the voice.

"Mark?" she asked again. "Mark!" she shouted.

Nothing. Just the wind, howling angrily.

She felt a drop of water hit the top of her head. She looked up as a wave of rain came crashing down into the woods. The rain came down heavily, masking the sound of any voice that may have been audible before.

"Mark!" her voice grated, desperate to find him.

Her fingers turned red in the cold, and she suddenly regretted wearing a tank top the day before.

She was at the brink of giving up, wandering pointlessly through the woods, hoping not to die of pneumonia before she found Mark.

"Lexie?" she heard the voice again.

She chased the faint ghost of a voice, with white knuckles as she raced to find him. Her wet hair stuck to her neck and shoulders, her shirt stuck to her skin, her shoes seemed to disappear and she found herself running barefoot, ignoring the rough sticks she stepped on to find him.

"Mark!" she shouted again, in a last attempt to hear his voice over the rain.

"Lexie," Mark emerged from the density, running towards her.

She grabbed hold of his hand, making sure he really was there.

There wasn't really much to say.

"H- How's your head?" Lexie asked, looking up.

"Fine," Mark looked around. "Where are we?"

"I don't know," Lexie took his hand, walking.

"Why would he leave us here?" Mark shook his head in thought.

"I don't know. He used to lock me in the bedroom so he could think what he wanted to do. Maybe that's what he's doing." Lexie rubbed her arm with the other to keep warm in the rain.

Mark took a deep breath. "Or maybe he's playing some kind of sick game with us," he suggested.

"Maybe," her teeth chattered.

Mark squeezed her hand in support. Both of them were freezing, soaking, lost and terrified, pretending to have half of a clue of where they might be. They knew they could be far from Seattle, seeing as that would require air-travel and neither of them had food poisoning.

"We should pick a direction and go in it," Mark finally decided after a while of walking.

Lexie nodded, looking around for a direction in which the woods became sparse.

"That way," she pointed. It looked a little less dense than the rest of the forest.

After even longer walking, they paused.

"We're going in circles," Lexie stopped.

"No, just keep going," Mark stopped a few feet ahead of her, turning to look at her.

"I'm tired," Lexie leant against a tree trunk, sliding to sit down.

Mark sighed, sitting too.

Lexie suddenly looked up.

"Did you hear that?" she asked, shooting up to her feet.

Mark shook his head, getting up.

"Hear what?"

"It's coming from that way!" Lexie shot off in some direction.

Mark bolted after her. "Slow down!" he called out.

"Anyone?" the voice came clearer as they ran.

Lexie came to a clearing where someone was sitting on the ground.

"Meredith?" Lexie stared, getting close enough to put her hands on her sister's arms.

Meredith got up. "Huh?" she made a face.

"How did you get here?" Lexie hugged Meredith tightly.

"Lexie," Meredith breathed. "I … I was in the house, and then I was here," Meredith shook her head confusedly.

There was a bright flash of lightning, long enough for Lexie to see the blood trailing down Meredith's forehead, dripping off her jaw.

"Meredith, you're bleeding." Lexie swallowed.

Meredith blinked.

Mark finally caught up with them.

"Lexie, why did you- Meredith," Mark stopped.

"Mark, she needs stitches," Lexie told him, turning.

Mark stepped towards them as Lexie was removing her wet tank top, and pressing it to Meredith's forehead.

"Derek," Meredith realized. "Derek. He hit Derek first. He had a briefcase, and … and your bag! He had your car …" Meredith remembered.

"She's confused," Lexie shouted over the thunder, shivering even more with nothing on her torso but her bra.

"Derek!" Meredith screamed out over the rolling noise above them. "Derek!"

"Meredith! Meredith, Daniel could be out there too," Lexie shook her sister roughly.

"Derek!" Meredith peeled Lexie's hands from her arms. "Derek!" she cried hysterically.

"Meredith," Lexie took her sister's face in her hands. "Please. Please be quiet!" she begged.

A moment of silence as Meredith's sobs stopped gave Mark time to look around for his friend.

The tears running down her face came to a halt and she pressed the tank top to her forehead again.

"Meredith, my guess, Derek is probably in the woods, okay? We'll find him, and he'll have a look at your forehead," Lexie spoke over the thunder again.

Another flash struck, about fifteen yards from them, causing Lexie and Meredith to scream at the same time as Mark shouted a profanity.

"We have to find Derek," Meredith gripped Lexie's arm, pressing against the cut on her forehead with the other hand.

"Okay," Lexie nodded, turning to Mark. "Mark, let's go,"

They started walking again, basically to keep warm, and find Derek.

Mark soon noticed the water was collecting on the floor, at ankle height already. The forest thickened, and the water rose higher and higher. They were sure that the coastal areas of Seattle were flooded also.

They couldn't stop now. They were sure there were fish swimming around their feet, or snakes or something. Mud sloshed between Lexie's bare toes, her feet sore from running, cold all over. There was a rattling sound behind them.

Mark turned on his heel, grabbing a branch of a tree, tugging it off roughly.

Meredith's trudging had come to a slug-like speed, as she leant on Lexie. She'd stopped for breath, Lexie still holding her up.

And then she slid down Lexie's figure, all the way to the ground, unconscious. Lexie sunk to her knees, turning Meredith onto her back so she didn't drown in the ten inches of muddy water and floating leaves. Meredith's head lay on Lexie's lap, as Lexie looked up at Mark, who was inspecting the shadowy waters for the source of the rattling.

The rattling became louder for a moment, before the stick fell from Mark's hand, and he leant against a tree with a groan that sent shivers down Lexie's back.

"Fuck," he hissed, lifting his own bare foot out of the water and inspecting two large punctures near his ankle, oozing blood.

Lexie shot out of the water, a burst of energy as she tugged Meredith up also. Meredith, a fair bit shorter than Lexie, was light enough for her to struggle to lift her altogether. There was a snake nearby, making a terrible rattling noise.

"We need to get to the hospital," Lexie told him, adjusting Meredith's position in her arms.

Mark nodded, his eyes shut tightly in agony as he continued to swear and groan.

Lexie shifted her weight from one foot to the other, nervously looking down for the snake that'd bitten Mark. The rattling became quieter and quieter, to the point at which she thought maybe it'd fled, but if girl scouts had taught her anything, the snake had bitten Mark as prey, as Mark hadn't been directly handling or harming the snake.

Lexie put Meredith down momentarily to tie the tank top's strings together so it would stay pressed to Meredith's forehead on it's own, before lifting her sister back out of the chilling water. She turned back around to look at Mark, who was silently leaning against the tree, sliding down slowly, his eyes closing as if he was bleeding out.

"Mark!" Lexie shouted at him. "Mark, stay awake!" she kicked him desperately.

It didn't work. He was already unconscious, and he simply slipped back down suddenly into the water. The water was high enough to touch Mark's chin, and it was then that she noticed that it was above her knees. She sunk to her knees, perching her sister up against another tree trunk, wading towards Mark. She pressed her hand to his forehead. He had an instant fever, and he was sweating.

"Mark, please wake up!" she screamed at him, holding both hands to his cheeks. "Mark!" she begged.

There was an eerie silence as she realized she was alone. She was a single surgeon in the woods with two critical patients. Not only that, she was lost.

"Please!" she pleaded angrily, gripping onto Mark's shirt, tugging it roughly. "_Please, please_ wake up!"

She heard a noise. A twig snapping. Something.

The snake was coming back. She knew it. It would kill her too.

Good. She wanted to die, if she couldn't save them.

The water swirled around her waist as she stood on her knees, repeatedly lifting Marks and Meredith's chins higher, out of the water.

"Meredith!"

That's what the noise was. It was Derek!

"Derek!" she screamed, willing herself to stand. "Derek!"

They were saved!

Derek emerged from the brush. His lips were chapped, his skin was pale blue…

"L- … Lexie?" he squinted. She was half naked, blue and partly covered in Meredith's blood. They both looked like Meredith had when she drowned, except Lexie was half naked.

"Derek!" she grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the others.

"Meredith!" he kneeled in front of her, lifting the tank top to inspect the wound. He turned to look at Mark, and then looked at Lexie. "What happened?"

"Something bit him … a snake or something," Lexie called over another burst of thunder.

"A snake?" He shouted.

"A rattlesnake," Lexie added.

"Shit," Derek noted, standing. "We have to find a way out. You take Meredith, I'll take Mark."

Lexie nodded, weakly trudging towards Meredith. She managed to grab her under the back and knees, pulling her up out of the water. Derek thrust his arms under Mark's, heaved him up and over his shoulder. In a less dire situation, Lexie would've felt a little intimidated by Derek's ability to do that, while she was only barely able to lift Meredith.

They dragged themselves for ages. They willed themselves to take the next step. It stopped raining, and things looked up for a little while. The water soaked into the ground and it disappeared completely by the time they came to a huge clearing, with grass everywhere. They had to stop. This was their best bet for Search and Rescue to find them. Lexie put Meredith down, Derek put Mark down, and the both of them collapsed to the soft grass.

They didn't have time to lose consciousness with their hypothermia, before there was a bright light flooding everything.

Lexie turned onto her back, staring up. It had to be heaven. She must've died.

It was combined with wind comparable to a hurricane, and they identified it as a helicopter. It sunk down to the ground, and the blades stopped spinning. Five paramedics climbed out, dashing towards them.

One came to help Lexie up, and she felt a burst of energy as she got to her feet to see two of them taking Mark. One was helping Meredith, with Derek at their side.

The paramedic removed her own coat and wrapped it around Lexie, helping her walk towards the gurney they were loading Mark onto.

"Sn- S- Snake … bit him." Lexie turned to the paramedic. "A rattlesnake bit him," she breathed.

The paramedic nodded and called it out to the other two, helping Lexie into the helicopter.

Derek leant over Meredith. "Don't die," he told her. "Don't die on me again," he squeezed her hand.

"I'm pregnant," she mumbled, a tear rolling down into her hair as she lay on the gurney.

Derek didn't say anything. Meredith started crying. "I'm sorry," she told him between sobs. "I'm sorry," she gripped his hand tighter.

"Shh," Derek put his other hand on her head, stroking her affectionately. "It's okay, Meredith."

"I don't want to lose this one too," she started to hyperventilate.

"Meredith, Mer- Meredith, calm down, okay?" he told her. "We can talk about this another time. I don't know _what _you mean, but it can wait. 'Kay?" he smiled slowly.

Meredith looked at him with a nod. "Okay," she took a deep breath.

* * *

Daniel opened the trunk of Lexie's car, and rolled out the body. He dragged it up the stairs, around the trellis. He left it there in front of the door and fled for the car. That would show them. That would show _her _that he could hurt her too.

He climbed into the drivers seat and peeled away, while Thatcher's cold, dead, piercing blue eyes stared blankly as he lay at the front door of Meredith's house.

It was a taster he was leaving for her. He'd come for Meredith too. And then Mark. And then, when she was alone, with nobody, she would need him. She would come back to Boston and have his baby.

She'd be _his_ again.

* * *

**Well, I finally got this chapter done. Review!**


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